Dear America,
I want to begin with this:
I love you.
I really, truly do.
I lived in your cities. I walked your campuses. I sat in your coffee shops, dreaming of building something that could change the world.
America was where I studied. Where I discovered my voice.
Where I fell in love with ideas that reshaped my life.
Where I started Mindvalley, with nothing but ambition and a belief that anything was possible.
For a full decade, you were my home.
And in many ways, you still are.
I may live elsewhere now, but I still identify as American more than anything else.
Because America—the idea of America—isn’t just geography.
It’s a frequency. A dream. A promise that inspired not just me, but billions of people around the world.
What we loved about you
We loved your optimism—the way you believed anything was possible.
We loved your rebels—the ones who spoke truth to power and rewrote the rules.
We loved your Martin Luther King Jr., whose voice still echoes across continents.
We loved your Silicon Valley, that dared to invent the future.
We loved your Apple, born in a garage, changing the way we connect.
We loved Burning Man, a wild celebration of freedom, creativity, and community in the desert.
We loved your poets, your scientists, your dreamers.
You were never perfect. But damn—you had soul.
You were the lighthouse.
The messy, brilliant, complicated beacon we looked toward for what was possible.
But lately… that light feels like it’s flickering.
What the world sees now
In just six months, this is what the world has seen:
– Threats to abandon NATO, the alliance that preserved peace for generations.
– Pointless trade wars where everyone loses.
– Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Treaty, while the Earth burns.
– And now—bombs falling on Iran.
Another unwinnable war in the Middle East.
A war your people swore they’d never allow again.
Not after Iraq.
Not after Afghanistan.
And it’s not just the outer world we see you destroy.
We see you tearing yourselves apart from within.
- Immigration raids that tear apart families and have caused LA to burn.
- Politicians who sound like children while openly taking bribes.
- Tax cuts for billionaires, while those struggling now actually have to pay more in taxes.
- A climate movement abandoned by the very country where it was born.
And yet—I’m writing this letter with an open heart.
Because I haven’t given up.
This week, I’m helping my son apply to U.S. universities. We’re preparing for a tour of East Coast campuses. Then, I’m driving from South Dakota to Yosemite, with stops at Mount Rushmore and the great open spaces I fell in love with.
I want to show my son America. Because I still believe in what America can be.
But I also cannot stay silent—not as a lover of your culture, not as a global citizen.
This spiral you’re in?
It must be named. And it must be stopped.
Because true friends don’t stay silent when they see you crashing.
The spiral was not a mystery. It was a choice.
Every war.
Every broken treaty.
Every erosion of trust.
It didn’t just happen. It was chosen through voting decisions.
By people who, often unknowingly, chose:
- Ego over empathy.
- Charisma over character.
- Soundbites over substance.
And I don’t blame you.
You were caught in a storm of propaganda. You were tired, misled, afraid.
But we need to be honest:
When you vote for leaders who enable war, destabilize peace, and govern through vengeance, you are not just voting for policy. You are voting for self-destruction.
What happened to service?
A great American president once said:
“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” – John F. Kennedy
Another said:
“We must never remain silent in the face of injustice.” – Barack Obama
Even Ronald Reagan once called America a “shining city upon a hill.”
What happened to that America?
Now we see leaders who sow division instead of unity.
Who thrive on conflict rather than compassion.
Who look not to serve, but to rule.
And as Sun Tzu warned:
“Some men would set their own nation ablaze, just to be king over the ashes.”
Can you recognize them?
Because now more than ever, you must.
America, you’ve always known how to tell the story. Now it’s time to live it.
Think of your heroes.
The ones you’ve shown us on screen for decades.
Will Smith in Independence Day.
Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible.
They save the world, not just themselves.
They protect their families, but they also rise to a higher mission.
That’s what made us fall in love with you.
Your heroes were never selfish.
They were flawed, yes. But they stood up for something bigger.
So why, in real life, do you so often vote for the opposite?
Your vote is not just yours
I say this with love—and urgency:
Your vote doesn’t just affect your neighborhood. It affects the entire planet.
- It affects the air we all breathe.
- The treaties we all depend on.
- The peace we all hope for.
- The future our children will inherit.
This is no longer about party loyalty or economic policy.
This is about consciousness.
This is about whether the most powerful country on Earth will continue to operate from fear and ego —
Or rise into wisdom and service.
What the world needs from you now
We don’t need another American empire.
We need an American elder.
Not one who dominates. One who guides.
Not one who fears. One who serves.
Because you were never meant to be a fortress.
You were meant to be a lighthouse.
But a lighthouse cannot fulfill its purpose if it forgets to shine inward first.
You taught us to dream. Now we’re asking you to dream again.
The world doesn’t hate you.
We’re not laughing at you.
We’re just watching… and hoping.
Hoping that the America we believed in is still in there.
The next time you march in the streets,
March for all of us.
Not just for the poor or hungry in your zip code.
But for the citizens of our shared planet who need you to shine again.
And when the time comes…
Vote with your heart. And with your higher self.
The choice is yours
Not every election is a turning point.
But some are.
And the one you’re facing now?
This is that moment.
You can vote for leaders who turn the world into a battlefield.
Or vote for those who understand that true power is service.
You can choose:
- Ego or evolution
- Division or destiny
- Fear or future
The world is not asking you to be perfect.
We are simply asking you to remember who you are, at your best.
The America that marched with MLK.
That wrote the Moonshot speech.
That created iPhones, NASA, jazz, and the dream that all humans are created equal.
That’s the America we still believe in.
That’s the America the world needs.
Let that be the America you choose.
— Vishen
Founder, Mindvalley
Citizen of Earth.
Forever shaped by the promise of America.
PS: This letter isn’t just mine—it’s a conversation we all need to have. I’d love to hear how this landed for you. What do you believe America still stands for? What does it need to stand for?
Share your comments below.
Let’s make this a space for reflection, dialogue, and hope.
952 Responses
Thank you Vishan for using your voice and platform to speak about the consequences of the choices being made in the USA. This is a world problem that calls for a worldly response.
Those of us within the borders of the USA are doing what we can to turn this tide, but we can’t do it alone. It seems there is a cultish spell cast over so many of our brothers and sisters. We need a louder voice to penetrate this spell.
Those of us within the Mindvalley family have the skills and spiritual connections to positively influence the direction of the USA as well as the direction of the world.
Let’s use what we know! Let’s meet together and vision the outcome we desire.
We know the power of connected visioning.
Let’s do it!!!
I’m disappointed with much of what was expressed.
I’ve worked in the poorest of countries for decades, dealing with their governments, the UN., USAID, etc. I’ve seen first hand the abuses and graft, the manipulation and theft from these institutions.
I’ve had to understand the in- depth and under-lying movements of the very enemies to world-wide freedoms that few know of.
Although I admire your love and devotion for this country, it’s plain to me that you don’t understand who and what has been working for decades to destroy it, and keep the world hostage.
I suggest that you do more in-depth searching for truth instead of rhetoric.
My warmest regards,
LMK
This is the last you will see of me. You claim to want a discussion or dialog but your ill informed diatribe leaves little room for any such thing. I have lived in Europe, the Middle East and South America for major portions of my life and your “take” on how America is seen abroad is laughable. Stay out of geopolitics and stay the course of ripping off The Silva Mind Method, it’s what got you rich. Goodbye.
I agree. Vishen’s lack of experience living in this country for his entire life says it all. As much as I love the Mind Valley platform up until now I am ashamed of his rant about the United States all of which is just propaganda!
I have always admired your passion, Vishen! As I read your letter, I am touched by your compassion for what America is going through. I resonated with many of your thoughts as I read your letter and also observed where some of your thoughts did not ring true for me.
And you know what?! That is okay! We were never meant to come here and agree completely with each other. That’s what makes the world work. We each have our own individuality to express, and that is why we have so many innovations and variety to choose from.
That being said, what I would stress is that what is going on here in America is smoke and mirrors and that there is a far greater plan at work that has been in play for decades, if not more than a century. And it doesn’t just involve America. It’s just being put on stage right now for everyone to see. And it’s deliberate.
We have all got to stop seeing our differences as divisive and start coming together in love and respect for those differences. We have to start seeing that what plays out in the media is to keep us distracted as to what’s going on quietly behind the scenes. And this isn’t just in America – it’s global!
Government is not the answer. The two party system is a farce. The left and the right are all working towards the same sinister plan – it’s just a matter of how they brand it and roll it out. We have to stop giving out power away to politicians and other “authority” figures. There are way more of “us” than there if “them,” and we have to start seeing that in order for these systems to fall and take back our sovereignty as free individuals.
The reason “they” have so much power over us is that we have given it away. We have stopped thinking for ourselves and have been programmed to look for the next savior to tell us what to do, how to think and how to act. And it has worked beautifully!
In order for America to be that beacon of light you speak of, we have got to stop putting our faith in the “powers that be” and start thinking for ourselves again. The educational system at every level, from elementary all the way through college has been seized, and indoctrination within those walls is so deliberate and calculated so as to capture children at a young age and send them off as adults who are programmed to follow the narrative laid out. There are many other “systems” that have been put in place to control the population that it would take writing a novel to go into all of it. Suffice it to say that it’s time to wake up, to take back our power as souls who came here to exercise our free will and rise up against the evil and sinister plans that have been put in play. We have got to stop saying yes to all the plans they keep rolling out, presenting them as benefits to a problem that “they” created to generate a cry for a new law or system to keep us safe, while all along we are willingly signing up for the next level of control.
Why do we need a government to keep growing in power like this? Our freedoms are slowly being stripped away because we’ve fallen for the scam.
It’s time for the Americans and entire world to come together and recognize that we are all humans first. Why do we allow nations and geography to divide us? Why all the war and fighting? Why the need for so much power? Why not more love and compassion for every human on this planet?
Stop it with the left versus the right. Stop with one nation against another. Stop with the hate fueled by differences in skin color. Stop the bashing of others due to different belief systems. Stop with the judging of another! Start focusing on your own damn self first! If we could all do that – love ourselves fully and just focus on our own internal happiness rather than trying to criticize and tear others down, it would instantly heal the world!
We can each do this. Right now. Today. YOU create your own reality! While you may not be able to change the minds of the politicians and leaders making choices for our nations and our world, we can each make a powerful impact by CHOOSING to live our own highest reality, and that will have a ripple effect beyond your wildest imagination!
Thank you, Vishen, for sharing your letter. It is my sincere prayer that it will inspire others to go within and think for themselves, that it may spark something within to speed up the revolution we need to bring this era to an end as we usher in of The Age of Aquarius!
Sending love and light to all!
Dear Vishen,
Please don’t enter the political arena.
It’s complicated here. While I may not agree with everything Trump does or says he is superior to the kind of President Kamala would have been. Only after the election did we see how truly incapable she was.
There is a lot of blame on both sides, and if you are going to mention bombs on Iran, please mention how devastating it would be if they built a nuclear weapon. If you are going to discuss immigration then please mention all the illegal immigrants who have destroyed NY, my hometown. My parents are both immigrants and they came legally. I am sad for the hard working honest immigrants who are caught up in these sweeps now but that could have been avoided if Biden did a better job.
I am an American born Jew and I have to tell you there are many Universities I will not consider for my children because of the rampant anti semitism and violence towards Jews. I am devastated and before anyone starts about Gaza, please remember they are still holding hostages.
I wish things were different too but using your platform to write a thinly veiled criticism of our President does not help.
Glad you commented! I wasn’t going to leave a comment but after reading so many comments from fellow Americans who support the current political climate(and I love that we have free will to make those choices), I felt it necessary to represent those of us agree with you. Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch was the reason I signed up w/Mind Valley. Great program! Our actions are based on fear or love. Blessings to all!
Thank you for your insightful and hope-filled response to Vishen. I have admired Vishen for many years and I don’t believe in throwing the baby out with the bath, so I will continue to learn from Vishen and his various coaches. However, I, too, am a conservative, Christian and Texan (80 in 3 months) and I applaud how our newly elected (overwhelmingly) President is handling our government at this time. The outside world does not see the corruption that has been rampant in government and how we needed to “drain the swamp.” I do not advocate war, revenge, or dictatorship, but that is NOT what our President is about or showing to us. He is simply doing what he said he would do when the MAJORITY of Americans voted for him and asked him to step in and clean up the corruption, the border, abortion, and asked him to reposition OUR country, America, as the prominent country in the world, not the laughingstock that Biden and Harris drove us to with their ineptitude, lies, and corruption. God bless the USA!
It’s time to recognize that you – that’s YOU – every American with a conscience – have a part to play in halting this slide into greed, lawlessness, oppression and vengeance. I’m Canadian. Our country was threatened with obliteration. Our economy was targeted. Not by Americans, but by a repressive and unconstitutional régime of gangsters and crooks. Only you can fix this. I wish you the best of luck, but it may be that the solution will take more courage, determination and honesty than you possess. I fear for all of us should you fail.
The problem with the world, not just America (US) is lack of selfless leadership that serves the people! I am Venezuelan by birth and American citizen by choice. When my birth country went into the toilet, I did not see many stand with its people. I grew up in the US and have seen worldwide companies poison the American children with frankenfood. Did anyone here care to fight for American kids? Are you calling on those sick kids to maintain your freedoms?
American families were poison with food, dirty water, chem trails, vaccines, brain washing sold as education in schools!! As one of many American moms, I was left on my own to become a nutritionist, herbalist, doctor to my kids, dentist to my kids, tutor to my kids and also bring in the money to pay for house and food! Are you looking for us to rise up and save you while we are detoxing our kids from the shitty dirty environments created by the billionaire class running enterprises?
You want Truth. No one is here to save you. This time you get to save yourself! You want better, create it!
What did you do last to further the inspired ideals of America to selflessly benefit people?
I believe that what shows outwardly is a reflection of what is inwardly, not just in Americans but in all people! Disease, conflict, Fragmentation, lack of respect for self and nature, they are all showing outwardly everywhere! The way to fix it is to fix it inside and everyone needs to do the job of cleansing karma, destroying attachments and aligning with the will of God! This is not an American problem. This is the problem everyone came to fix. The problem is actually an invitation for soul evolution. Answer the call!! Stop clinging to your ego and start living from your soul!
Thank you for that most insightful and inspirational perspective. It’s something that people need to contemplate, especially those who placed people in power who are degrading this country in order to satisfy their own greed and lust for power. It’s highly disappointing, not to mention embarrassing, just how low the current leadership of this country has stooped for attention and control; but I still have faith in the American people. There’s a pattern in the way America moves: For every one step backwards, there is always two steps forward.
As a country, it seems that we can easily get bored when things are always going well, and that’s when things go crazy and take a backward step. Whenever people get tired of the limitations that going backwards creates, we push forward again to continue our journey toward the future. Each backward step always feels permanent, but it never is. As odd (and frustrating) as it may seem, this is the way we learn and grow, much like a child that learns from its bruises and scars.
At some point we will once again begin to push forward and become better as a result of our mistakes and poor choices, and we will become more than we were. Right now, we’re witnessing the consequences of poor decisions that have been, and that are being, made. How far down the rabbit hole things have to go before we reach the point of turn-around is anybody’s guess. But as sure as the sun rises every day, it will happen, and this all will become history that future generations will learn from. If there’s one thing we’re learning from it all right now, it’s patience.
Dear Vishen Thank you for this open letter. I share so much of your sentiment. The situation to me is not as one side vs. the other. Both major players are showing equally unacceptable actions. Is it still a democracy where voting comes down to only a choice between two bad options? And it does not look as peachy in the world over all as one would wish. Many in the MV community also have spiritual beliefs that allow for concepts and solutions of a different level. That is where I see the true power of the size of what you and others have built here. Coming together to focus our considerable joint energies on what we want to see, create, and be in this world has massive potential impact. My question is how can we harness the energy to turn the collapse that seems unavoidable into a collapse of the wave into the particle that we truly want to manifest for us and for the future? And are we ready, willing, able to step up to it? Much love.
– NATO “preserve peace”? Yes during the Cold War, definitely not how it’s used now.
– Pointless trade wars? Let’s keep buying everybody else’s stuff while they keep our stuff out of their markets.
– Earth is burning? Go back 50 years and look at every prediction of climate catastrophe that was supposed to take place in the next 5-10 years. By the way, trees and plants need carbon and we need trees and plants.
– Bombs over Iran and forever wars? Agreed.
The problem with the world, not just America (US) is lack of selfless leadership that serves the people! I am Venezuelan by birth and American citizen by choice. When my birth country went into the toilet, I did not see many stand with its people. I grew up in the US and have seen worldwide companies poison the American children with frankenfood. Did anyone here care to fight for American kids? Are you calling on those sick kids to maintain your freedoms?
American families were poison with food, dirty water, chem trails, vaccines, brain washing sold as education in schools!! As one of many American moms, I was left on my own to become a nutritionist, herbalist, doctor to my kids, dentist to my kids, tutor to my kids and also bring in the money to pay for house and food! Are you looking for us to rise up and save you while we are detoxing our kids from the shitty dirty environments created by the billionaire class running enterprises?
You want Truth. No one is here to save you. This time you get to save yourself! You want better, create it!
What did you do last to further the inspired ideals of America to selflessly benefit people?
I believe that what shows outwardly is a reflection of what is inwardly, not just in Americans but in all people! Disease, conflict, Fragmentation, lack of respect for self and nature, they are all showing outwardly everywhere! The way to fix it is to fix it inside and everyone needs to do the job of cleansing karma, destroying attachments and aligning with the will of God! This is not an American problem. This is the problem everyone came to fix. The problem is actually an invitation for soul evolution. Answer the call!! Stop clinging to your ego and start living from your soul!
Vishen,
With all the respect and love that I have for you in the platform you have created….you really sound like you are battling yourself. There is a saying, we dont see things as they are, we see them as WE ARE.
I live in America and I am not going to address all your topics, but I will say this. We the people see peace around the corner. We the people are not what you say is we the people because we the people knew what we voted for. We did not vote for someone because we liked everything he did. (i have seen you snap at a moderator in a group and it made me blink hard…but you ARE HUMAN, as we all are). We voted him in because we knew he would be tough and get our country back in line.
Your comments are clear to the majority here that you are tuned into the left side news. So you will get a fist pump and “let’s protest” and yes from them.
I will ask that you take a breath and see another view. The bombs….ended nuclear building, that could have destroyed many lives and generations to be…because of the lasting effects of that type of weapon…especially in the hands of people who have shown they do not care and live in hate. Isreal is at peace for now and my friends there can go through a day without sirens and fear. Our president took out the nukes, avoided WW3, and not one American died. Now we have a cease fire…so i am lost as to why this was a horrible thing? The whole battle of Ukraine was that the president of Ukraine refused to have peace and he has shown that in all his actions…if you dig in a research it.
Also, the tarrifs..I have seen many Americans build businesses with products, only to watch the Chinese knock them off and then sell them at 1/3 the cost to make it here. The sell it back to the American people. We have watched many businesses close because Chinese imports are so cheap. Meanwhile the US is suffering budget wise and businesses are closing because they can’t make it. The companies that buy the cheap Chinese products are thriving. And now, they are complaining. However, our economy will shift back to our country, as it should and imports being on a level playing field. This is going to make sure that everyone can play fair in the world. As far as NATO…did you research that one? Because America has put more than 1/2 the funding into NATO while other countries do nothing and expect the US to foot the bill and cover them too. Now, Vishen, I know for a fact that you would never give away more than 50% of your business to support others and then come out of pocket to provide all the food to feed them and equipment and other things too….that makes ZERO sense for any business. And, the truth is, America is a business but we are finally a people first. I have a lot of immigrants where I live, a lot! However, they are doing the right thing, working to get their papers and following the rules to citizenship. No ICE here or what you talked about! Maybe you should take a poll….how many have ACTUALLY EXPERIENCED THIS, not just “heard about it” Or maybe you should watch all the news and then make a statement. But stay out of telling people to vote when you are working a business that is about internal growth and empowering ones self…please. It goes against the core values you teach. Do not judge, do not create drama…be you, that is why we are here. But this is just a downgrade to what Mindvalley represented….a neutral space to be working on ourselves and our lives without the outside world bullshit. I shake my hand at this post because it is obvious that you do NOT live in America and are going off of people who refuse to look at the whole.picture. Please stay out of telling people to change the vote when you do NOT understand that we all DID VOTE and we are watching a new era. The new era the refuses to hide that president Kennady was killed by people in his own party because he was going tonexpose the truth. The truth that DOGE uncovered, and the lies that have been told to us all. So is it ugly, yes sir…but we support the exposure and getting to peace and the people of America fist, verses the politics and corruption that had plagued our nation for too too long!! Please don’t ruin mindvalley with posting things that you do not have the full picture of…
Signed,
We the people that voted for this and are happy we did!
Sorry, you voted for this? Trump repeatedly said that he didn’t want any wars with anyone. So he’s already gone back on his campaign promises.
Furthermore, there was zero evidence that Iran had any nuclear capabilities, and Tulsi Gabbard herself said this two weeks ago, based on our own intelligence. She changed her mind when Trump forced her to. Her initial report was based on evidence, to which Trump said that he “didn’t care what she said.” He consulted no evidence, like he always does, just making up facts based on which way the wind is blowing.
Obama got Iran into a peace deal. Then Trump trashed it, because he’s obsessed with Obama and can’t stand the idea that he had done something useful for the country. All of this is of Trump’s own making. We are at the mercy of his demented (I mean that literally, because he has dementia) and narcissistic ego that refuses to look at hard evidence. And it may now lead us directly into WWIII.
To the Esteemed Ladies and Gentlemen,
To the Dreamers, the Connectors, the Explorers—Precious Human Beings,
What unites us all, beyond every difference, is the privilege of life and the brief moment in time we are called to share.
To those entrusted with power and leadership, I appeal with humility and conviction: may you honor the gift of reason and conscience entrusted to us by the Universe.
And above all, may you be guided by a single, unwavering light—Respect for all humankind and its diversity.
This world does not need more dominance—it needs dignity, compassion, and thoughtful leadership.
Let us look to figures such as José “Pepe” Mujica, whose example of integrity and simplicity and has understand the profound meaning of LIFE.
+ Respect + Kindness + Humanity
With sincere gratitude to you Vishen for his heartfelt open letter to the Great America—an idea that, beyond borders, has shaped, inspired, and moved us all.
In trust and with warm regard,
Mourad Salami
As an immigrant CEO, I thank you.
A very senior Canadian here who feels like we have wandered back to WW11 but with aMindless avatar in charge.
and we have just been thru a really nasty breakup with a ex who is going to get even regardless. of the kids..or anyth9ng else…
great you started this conversation
I agree completely!! I have been trying for 60 years. The money in politics is a big part of the problem. We need a chage in the way we think IMHO. We need to think of love and helping all entities and the planet first, or at least as part of every decision, IMO.
Eloquent, articulate, moving and powerful, Vishen! The American Dream… the most valuable export … yet many here have become disillusioned… sadly… perhaps due to circumstances, hardships, feelings of lack of opportunities… right her in that country of dreams…